Shloka 4
भृगुवंश-प्रस्तावना तथा पुलोमा–अग्नि-संवादः
Bhrigu Lineage Preface and the Pulomā–Agni Dialogue
सौतिर्वाच यदधीतं पुरा सम्यग द्विजश्रेष्ठेमहात्मभि: । वैशम्पायनवित्राग्र्यैस्तैश्ञापि कथितं यथा,सूतपुत्र उग्रश्रवाने कहा--भृगुनन्दन! वैशम्पायन आदि श्रेष्ठ ब्राह्मणों और महात्मा द्विजवरोंने पूर्वकालमें जो पुराण भलीभाँति पढ़ा था और उन विद्दवानोंने जिस प्रकार पुराणका वर्णन किया है, वह सब मुझे ज्ञात है
sautir uvāca yad adhītaṃ purā samyag dvijaśreṣṭhair mahātmabhiḥ | vaiśampāyanaviprāgryais taiś cāpi kathitaṃ yathā ||
Sauti said: “Whatever sacred lore was thoroughly studied in ancient times by the foremost, high-souled Brahmins, and whatever was then recounted in that very manner by the eminent Brahmin Vaiśampāyana—of all that I am fully informed.”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes trustworthy transmission: sacred knowledge should be learned correctly (samyak) by qualified sages and then narrated faithfully. Ethical authority in the epic rests on disciplined study and accurate reporting, not invention.
Sauti, addressing the assembled sages, asserts his reliability by linking his account to an established lineage of learning and recitation—what the great Brahmins studied and what Vaiśampāyana narrated in that same manner.